Sickle-winged chat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sickle-winged chat |
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| in Natal, South Africa | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Emarginata
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| Species: |
sinuata
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| Synonyms | |
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Cercomela sinuata |
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The sickle-winged chat is a small bird found only in southern Africa. It's also called the sicklewing chat. This bird belongs to a group called "Old World flycatchers." You can find it living in South Africa, Lesotho, and parts of Botswana and Namibia. It likes to live in dry, bushy areas called Karoo scrub. It also lives in short grasslands and rocky places. Near the coast, it can even be found on farms.
How Scientists Name Birds
Scientists give every animal a special name. This helps everyone know exactly which animal they are talking about. The sickle-winged chat was first described in 1858. A Swedish scientist named Carl Jakob Sundevall gave it the name Luscinia sinuata.
Later, scientists learned more about birds. They found that this bird was better grouped with others. So, it was moved to a different group called Cercomela. Even later, new studies looked at the birds' DNA. These studies showed that Cercomela wasn't quite right. So, the sickle-winged chat got its current group name: Emarginata. The word sinuata means "curved" in Latin.
There are three slightly different types of sickle-winged chats:
- E. s. hypernephela – found in Lesotho.
- E. s. ensifera – found in southern Namibia and western/central South Africa.
- E. s. sinuata – found in southern South Africa.
What Does It Look Like?
The sickle-winged chat is about 15 centimeters (6 inches) long. It weighs around 17 to 20 grams. Its back and top parts are dark grey. But its wings are brown. It has a reddish-brown patch right behind its eye.
Its tail and rump (the area above the tail) are a light pinkish-buff color. The end of its tail has a black V-shape. Its belly and chest are off-white. This bird has a short, straight black beak. Its legs and feet are also black. Its eyes are brown. Young sickle-winged chats look a bit different. Their feathers have buff-colored tips.
It's easy to tell this bird apart from the familiar chat. The sickle-winged chat has dark upper parts and much lighter underparts. The familiar chat has a more even color all over. Also, the pale color on the sickle-winged chat's rump only goes to the base of its tail. The familiar chat's tail has more of that rich color.
The sickle-winged chat makes a sound like "chak-chak." It also has a pretty, warbling song.
How Does It Live?
The sickle-winged chat builds a nest shaped like a cup. It uses straw and leaves to make its nest. It usually builds its nest on the ground. You can often find it hidden under a bush or shrub. The female bird lays two to four eggs. The eggs can be green or blue. These birds stay with one partner for life.
You will usually see sickle-winged chats alone or in pairs. They look for food on the ground. They also search at the bottom of trees. Their favorite food is insects.
Compared to the familiar chat, the sickle-winged chat spends more time on the ground. It also runs faster. It sometimes flicks its wings, but not as often as the familiar chat.
Keeping Them Safe
The sickle-winged chat is a common bird. It lives in a very large area. This area is estimated to be about 850,000 square kilometers (328,000 square miles). Scientists believe there are many of these birds. Their numbers are not dropping quickly.
Because of this, the bird is listed as "Least Concern." This means scientists are not worried about it becoming endangered soon.
